After the Orioles avoided a sweep and beat the Los Angeles Angels 5-1 on Sunday, I'm wondering about a few topics and want to hear about them from Birdland today. Why all the trade talk about Trey Mancini?: Fans are not in a hurry to move this guy out of here, are they? On my postgame radio show, one of the most frequently asked questions is "Will the Orioles trade Mancini, and if so, what could they get for him?" Are fans just excited by trade talks? Mancini, believe it or not, is not even...

I'll admit I've been holding off doing a Q&A for a few weeks, because I know where this is likely going. There's a lot of aggravation out there among Nationals fans, and while it's certainly justified, it also tends to lead to irrational and unproductive conversations that put your trusty beat writer in awkward and no-win situations. But I know you have thoughts, and I know you want my thoughts on those thoughts. And so I thought I'd give this a shot today and see how it goes. But here...

LOS ANGELES - Dodgers southpaw Hyun-Jin Ryu was hard to solve and Corey Seager blasted a grand slam Sunday in a 6-0 shutout of the Nationals. The left-hander did not allow a base hit until the eighth inning, thanks to another gritty at-bat from veteran Gerardo Parra. Seager put the game away with his second career grand slam in the eighth. The Nats were held to that Parra double. Brian Dozier earned the only walk off of Ryu, but finished 0-for-2 with two strikeouts against his former...

The pitcher who used to light up radar guns wouldn't mind if they were set ablaze and never replaced. Put them on a raft in the bay and give it a shove. Dylan Bundy insisted again yesterday morning that his dip in velocity during Saturday's start wasn't due to an injury. Might have been based on mechanics or the weather. He's trying to figure it out. But he knows how his arm feels. "My arm feels great," he said. So he's got that going for him. Which is really important. Bundy's injury...

Orioles lefty John Means had to navigate through some traffic on the bases early on today. He did. Then he needed to pitch efficiently later in the game to get through six innings. He did. He gave up a solo homer to Mike Trout - who hit two here this weekend - but Means was solid once again for the Orioles, who beat the Los Angeles Angels 4-1 at Oriole Park. They improve to 14-26 and avoided a three-game sweep. The Orioles today snapped their fifth four-game losing streak of the year. They've...

Chris Davis found the cleanup spot again. Which happens when a former slugger appears to be regaining his stroke. Left-hander John Means is finding the rotation to be an ideal fit, his tendency to hold opponents to one run a most endearing trait. Davis led off the top of the second inning today by launching a 93 mph fastball from Angels starter Griffin Canning onto the flag court in right field. The swing and the sound were quite familiar. They've just been buried for a while. The 0-for-33...

LOS ANGELES - A tremendous pitching battle is unfolding on a sun splashed Sunday afternoon in Southern California between right-hander Stephen Strasburg and Dodgers left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu. Ryu began with strikeouts of Brian Dozier and Juan Soto in the first inning. He retired the first nine batters he faced, holding the Nationals without a base hit for the first three innings. Strasburg struck out Joc Pederson to begin the game and enjoyed a 1-2-3 first inning. But the Dodgers plated a run in...

LOS ANGELES - Nationals players are wearing special commemorative caps, socks and using pink bats in the series finale today against the Dodgers on Mother's Day. "I'd like to wish all the mothers a happy and wonderful Mother's Day," Martinez said to open his pregame availability. "Everybody thinks my job is hard, but I can only imagine what moms go through every day and we thank you from the bottom of our heart." On the field, Martinez elected to give infielder Howie Kendrick the day off...

The Orioles and Los Angeles Angels remain hopeful that they will play baseball today at Camden Yards, but rain has been falling through the day and the game will not start on time. Shortly after 12 p.m. today the O's posted this via their Twitter account - "RAIN UPDATE: We are starting today's game vs. the Angels in a delay. We remain optimistic to be able to play baseball this afternoon. We are continuing to monitor weather reports and will share updates as we receive them." After losses...

LOS ANGELES - Stephen Strasburg is nearing another milestone in his career. The San Diego native is three wins away from 100 for his career. He is the all-time leader in Nationals starts with 214. Earlier in the month, he reached 1,500 strikeouts, which shows Nationals manager Davey Martinez how good the right-hander has been for 10 seasons. He is now at 1,512. "That's impressive, I mean it really is," Martinez said. "Here's a guy that missed a considerable amount of time in his career and...